In current practice, vast quantities of wood materials are under-utilized or discarded as being unfit for use in structural lumber. Logs in the range of an 8 inch diameter or less are considered to be too small for cutting into usable boards, planks or veneers. Planks cut from larger logs are rejected for first-quality applications when they have the defects of having waned, chipped or broken edges, or checked, cracked, split or even dry-rot surfaces.
This invention overcomes or neutralizes these deficiencies so that these less-than-perfect materials may be converted into high quality structural products lighter in weight and larger in size than conventional corresponding solid wood by reason of interior spaces therein, without sacrificing strength or appearance. All the defects and damages of the inferior materials are neutralized or concealed within the finished structural products. In addition, the methods of producing structural elements such as beams, joists, etc. disclosed and claimed herein are so highly efficient that they may be used even with first-quality undamaged starting materials to compete successfully in the marketplace against presently available beams or similar wood structural products.
It is a primary object of this invention to enhance the utility and value of small logs and imperfect lengths of lumber by creating high quality laminated structural beams, joists, etc., with interior space therein, at low cost and with little or no waste. It is another object of this invention to assemble these novel desirable lumber products efficiently and economically and thereby highly competitively in the structural wood products field, using the methods of this invention.